Today's commercial airline carriers typically provide a variety of services to enhance the comfort of and provide convenience to their passengers. One such service is access to a telephone, often provided right at the passenger's seat. This allows passengers to not only communicate with other passengers without having to get out of their seat, but also provides the ability for a passenger to initiate and receive telephone calls to virtually anywhere in the world. Telephone access also provides the passenger with means to connect their laptop or portable computer to a service provider and the Internet, thereby allowing them to perform functions such as checking their email and dispatching faxes.
Many commercial airlines are also equipping their aircraft to provide onboard entertainment and information services that a passenger can access either at their seat or at designated areas within the plane. Access to these services are either through a dedicated computing device provided by the airline, or alternatively, by the passenger's own laptop or portable computer.
To provide the above services typically requires two or more separate devices located within the aircraft. A cabin telecommunications unit (CTU) is the device responsible for receiving telephony information from a cabin-based telephone system, and relaying that information to either other parts of the aircraft, or to the aircraft's transmitter/receiver, thereby allowing telephone calls to or from the aircraft to connect with the ground-based telephone network. The communications protocol to which the CTU and cabin-based telephone system are often designed to comply with is the Aeronautical Radio, Inc. protocol 746 (ARINC 746).
Similarly, a file server (FS) device is required to provide computerized services such as onboard entertainment and information services. Typical file servers are stand alone devices that incorporate a microprocessor with short term and long term memory, along with various interfaces and switching means for directing and processing digital signals. Standard file server devices designed for use in aircraft are often designed to comply with ARINC 763 protocol.
FIG. 1 is a simplified depiction of a CTU and a FS provided onboard an aircraft. As illustrated, contained within the cabin 100 of an aircraft is a plurality of seats 110 for the passengers. A CTU 200 and a FS 300 are also contained within the cabin 100 (depicted) or, alternatively, in another area of the aircraft (not depicted). Wiring 210 is laid throughout the cabin to connect the CTU 200 to a plurality of telephone handsets 220 distributed throughout the cabin 100, typically at each of the passenger seats 110. Similarly, wire 310 is also laid to connect FS 300 to a plurality of dedicated access devices (not shown) or to a plurality of access points 320 for interfacing with a portable computing device such as a laptop computer 330.
One disadvantage with the traditional system, such as that presented in FIG. 1, is the need to have both the CTU and a FS in order to provide the above passenger services. Both devices take up space within and add to the overall weight of the aircraft, thereby utilizing valuable resources of an aircraft to which airlines would rather allocate to other profit generating purposes. Furthermore, separate power sources are often needed for each of the devices, leading to increased costs and greater loss of space upon the aircraft. Additionally, the presence of two separate devices typically requires the aircraft to be wired for both, thereby further increasing the labor and costs involved in providing telephone and onboard entertainment and information services.
Therefore, the inventors hereof have recognized the need for a new apparatus for providing both telephone and entertainment/information services onboard an aircraft.